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One of the most American movies ever made. A brilliant tale of the American Dream narrated by a simple man with simple pleasures. Hanks is at his stunning best here, and Zemeckis proved that he's more than just a technological wizard when it comes to making movies. A classic that deserves toOne of the most American movies ever made. A brilliant tale of the American Dream narrated by a simple man with simple pleasures. Hanks is at his stunning best here, and Zemeckis proved that he's more than just a technological wizard when it comes to making movies. A classic that deserves to be adored for decades to come.…Expand

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The charmed and charming life journey of an innocent tossed through three decades of America's turbulent modern history makes for an original and hugely appealing story. Its mesmerising potential only falters because director Robert Zemeckis' agility with ingenious special effects occasionally outpaces his narrative judgement, as it did in Death Becomes Her and, to a lesser extent, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It is still his most emotionally satisfying work to date, though, and however mildly or sharply one is struck by its dramatic flaws, there can be few who would deny the film's entertainment value or the captivation of Tom Hanks' performance as the eponymous Gump.

State-of-the-art computer digitalised compositing enables Forrest to interact with Presidents JFK, LBJ and Nixon, pop stars like John Lennon and TV personalities galore, creating other illusions to quite astounding effect. Less successful is the strand throughout the film in which Wright's Jenny counterpoints Forrest's naïve plod - always following his heart and his inner voice of right-doing in a country losing direction - with her extended walk on the wild side through promiscuity, drugs and loss of belief. Overlong, the film begins to slide into a sentimentalised panorama of the times with distracting, though admittedly frequently hilarious, spectacles.

Yet, for all its mush and meandering, this is among the stand-out audience pleasers; Hanks outdoes himself in the loveable dolt department with unforgettable, utterly disarming work. Just as he recaptured boyishness in Big without resorting to cuteness, here he brilliantly portrays slowness and dumb doggedness without being patronising. Despite its flaws, this is simply unmissable.…Expand

perhaps the worst film ever made. never before in the history of cinema has anything this mawkish, pretentious stupid, and manipulative ever been foisted upon us. there is not one single thing in this film which isn't false. it is so outrageously derivative and obviously manipulative perhaps the worst film ever made. never before in the history of cinema has anything this mawkish, pretentious stupid, and manipulative ever been foisted upon us. there is not one single thing in this film which isn't false. it is so outrageously derivative and obviously manipulative that i honestly was hoping, praying, that they were kidding. alas, they were not. this should be preserved, and shown in film schools as an example of "movie making by committee" and as an indictment of the boomer generation and how they destroyed american film.…Expand